Safety

Family partnership needed for healthy schools

Dear Families,

As I look forward with optimism toward the new school year, I want to reach out to you personally to ask your partnership in keeping our schools as healthy as possible.

Even with all we have done, our best defense against COVID begins with you and your children. We will have the best possible school year if we all do our part, and here is what your teachers and your schools need from you.

• First and most important, if your children are sick, you must keep them at home. Please do not bring children to school if they have a fever or if they are exhibiting other signs of COVID-19 such as a cough, a sore throat, diarrhea, or any other cold-like symptoms.

• Second, if your children have had prolonged exposure to someone known to have COVID-19 or someone in the household is awaiting the results of a COVID-19 test, please do not bring them to school. Contact the school by telephone first to determine how to proceed.

• Third, please make sure your child comes to school with a clean face covering each day. Some students may qualify for medical exemptions, and your schools will have information on the documentation required for that exemption. Except in those rare instances, students should be prepared to wear a face covering for the duration of the school day, with few exceptions.

• Finally, please be mindful of your practices away from school. Avoid gatherings and parties, especially if there is no social distancing or use of face coverings.

We have gone to extraordinary lengths to prepare our schools. We have ramped up our cleaning and disinfecting processes, added face shields or desk shields in our classrooms, equipped classrooms with hand sanitizer and even applied an antimicrobial treatment throughout our schools and classrooms. We will have one new face covering for all students and face shields for kindergarten through second grade students.

In addition to all we have done to prepare, we have all the enthusiasm of any new school year and all the hope and expectation for seeing your children grow intellectually. I have been to dozens of schools and even more classrooms over the last few days, and our teachers and principals are excited about re-engaging with your children, whether that is in class or through our online options. They are ready.

While this year comes with unique challenges and complexities, we will all do our best when everyone does their part. Please keep your children home if they are sick. Contact your school by phone if a member of your family has COVID-19 or is awaiting test results. Provide your children with clean face coverings and be mindful of good preventive practices in other areas of life.

More so than any other year, success will be achieved by working together, and I hope you will join me in the effort to make this an outstanding school year for all students.

Sincerely,

Dr. Diana Greene, Superintendent

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